I felt nostalgic by posting this but a true Punisher fan should know this, there is many pictures of Battle Van but these is what i remember of showing some capabilities probably there are more... i can't recall right now.

In this
introductory issue to volume #2 of the Marvel series titled, “Thunderbolts”,
Daniel Way creatively crafts a tale where five highly volatile individuals are
brought together for a single purpose…to forget the courts, jails and the
system and to fight fire with fire. Way does a good job introducing the setting
and sets up each character’s recruitment to the team. Even though Way does a
good job in this first issue he didn’t seem to explain the “why now” question.
Hopefully this will come out later in the first arc.

Rating – “B+”

ARTWORK:

I am
personally not a fan at all of Steve Dillon’s style. His characters often times
seem to be a bit too cartoony with not a lot of detail to them. I would say
that I could be spoiled after all the great work that had been coming out in
Rucka’s Punisher series as well as the mini-series of “Untold Tales of Punisher
Max”. Overall, it seemed to me to distract from the decent story that Way was
trying to craft in this initial episode. I think a more realistic and gritty
art style would suit this kind of team book a lot better.

Rating – “D”

STORY:

(WARNING
– MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

In a
nut-shell this first issue was about General Ross (RED HULK) recruiting a new
team of Thunderbolts together to bring hard justice to the world. It works
better than most team book intros but it‘s curious to try to figure out why
General Ross is doing what he is doing. Here’s hoping that this book actually
ends up having somewhat of a plot.

Rating – “B“

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:

The book
seems entertaining enough. That could be mostly due to the cast that is
assembled and with the highly volatile style of the group. I just hope that
this doesn’t end up being one of the Marvel Now! Titles that end up stinking so
badly that it will be the first to be cancelled.

Rucka’s
second entry in his attempt to tie up the loose ends of his amazing Punisher
run seems to fall flat. After a compelling intro issue to this mini-series,
Rucka fails to tell a story that keeps readers engaged. The story of Black
Widow going around the world tracking Frank Castle is wearisome and doesn’t
quite fit the universe of Punisher that I have grown to love throughout Rucka’s
run. Instead, this issue felt like a completely different Punisher comic
altogether…one that was not written by Rucka but some other Marvel contributor.
Not only does the story not flow well but the dialogue between Frank and
Natasha Romanov isn’t very good either.

Rating – “D+”

ARTWORK:

The only
solid piece of artwork in this book comes from Marco Checchetto. The two places
where his work is referenced is on the front cover and the intro on page 1.
These two examples of work just make the rest of the book feel so bland and
useless. Not only was I struggling to get through the story in this issue but
the artwork even made the story worse.

Rating – “C”

STORY:

(WARNING
– MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

There isn’t
a lot to spoil in this issue of War Zone. Basically Frank has left the country
and is on the run from the Avengers. For whatever reason, which isn’t explained
at all, the Avengers don’t all come after Punisher at the same time. Instead
they send Black Widow on a wild goose chase around the globe to track Frank
down. Eventually she does so in Africa of all places and Frank gets away. That
is about it…seriously. We get a hint at the next issue where Captain America
asks Thor to be the next Avenger to go after Castle.

Rating – “C“

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:

I think this
was the first Punisher comic written by Greg Rucka where I was actually not
entertained. It was really surprising to close the back page of the issue and
think, “Wow, Marvel really has no idea how to use this character anymore”. It
made me think that maybe Marvel is trying to get rid of the Punisher or
something.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Here are some hints gave by Daniel Way exclusively to CBR about the Punisher role in the Thunderbolts... Some of us are still cautious about the presence of Frank in this team but Way's tried to clear some stuff to all Punisher fans and for all characters included in this team... I will post some statements of what i think is important for all of us.

"The Punisher is the one guy on the team with no
super human or super natural abilities, but if you look at the cover to
the first issue there's some changes to his uniform. There's a reason
for that and it addresses the fact that he's going to be going toe to
toe with some really heavy hitters," Way explained. "He's much like Ross
except at a certain point in their careers Frank turned one way and
Ross turned the other. Yet Frank remains human and Ross is no longer
human. So there are other tactical reasons why the Punisher is there,
but the core reason why Ross reaches out to Frank and why the Punisher
plays a big role in the first issue is really because of that. He's got a
lot more in common with Frank than any of the other people on the team."

It seems to me that Frank will have a big role in this team

"When Frank has something to say about what
they're doing Ross really listens," Way continued. "Another thing is
Frank has absolutely no fear of the Red Hulk. I'm not saying the other
characters are afraid of him, but sometimes that apprehension comes out
in aggression. Frank doesn't get mad at you. He'll shoot you dead, but
he rarely gets pissed off. When he clocks in and goes to work it's just
business."

"Every member of the team has a sworn mission.
They will be working in tandem to accomplish these things. The Punisher
wants to destroy organized crime, and Elektra has had a twin agenda
emerge through her continuity. For one she's very anti-terrorist.
There's also the Hand, which are also terrorists in the Patriot Act
era," Way said. "Plus, look at things from the Punisher's point of view.
What is the Hand if not a mob in ninja masks? They're running all the
same rackets and they use all the same tactics. Look at it from Venom's
point of view. The Mob and the Hand both have enemy soldiers. When he
signed on to become Venom his mission became taking guys like this off
the board."

For what i think about this interview is that the characters will stay "rooted" to their personal objectives which is a good thing, besides the differences they have from each other, being in a team will not serve as an excuse for them to forget their objectives. I think it's good for the comic to treat every character with proper respect.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

After a good month in December we got a in my opinion a better January with a new limited series PUNISHER: Nightmare by Scott Gimple currently working on AMC series "The Walking Dead"it will be a FIVE PART, FIVE WEEK PUNISHER EVENT!

THUNDERBOLTS #3

W: Daniel Way / A: Steve Dillon

• The Thunderbolts are tearing their way through a bloody mission!• But will even this crew approve of the team's NEWEST MEMBER?• Yeah, that's right—the RED LEADER.

PUNISHER: NIGHTMARE #1-5

W: Scott Gimple / A: Mark Texeira

• A Special Forces soldier is injured and his
family killed in the midst of a mob execution in Central Park, but this
isn't Frank Castle. This time it's a young soldier named JAKE NIMAN, but
the familiar story puts Frank on the path of punishment!• As Jake Niman heals from his wounds, why is he growing strangely stronger?• And who is the mysterious Johnny Nightmare?• Bullets fly, anarchy reigns, allies become enemies, the Punisher becomes the punished, and no one is safe!!!

PUNISHER: WAR ZONE #3

W: Greg Rucka / A: Carmine Di Giandomenico

• The Punisher vs. Thor.

That's all folks, we've got a big Punisher month i wish this could be every month!